Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to devices used to facilitate hitching an implement or trailer to a vehicle, and more particularly to a video monitoring system which may be used by the operator of a vehicle to guide the approach of the vehicle to an implement or a trailer or the like to bring connecting members of a hitch mechanism respectively located on the vehicle and on the implement or trailer into alignment and engagement with each other.
Once the exclusive domain of municipality-operated heavy trucks, snow plows have been used with light and medium duty trucks for decades. As would be expected in any area of technology which has been developed for that period of time, snow plows for light and medium duty trucks have undergone tremendous improvement in a wide variety of ways over time, evolving to increase both the usefulness of the snow plows as well as to enhance the ease of using them. The business of manufacturing snow plows for light and medium duty trucks has been highly competitive, with manufacturers of competing snow plows differentiating themselves based on the features and enhanced technology that they design into their products.
In the past several years one of the most important of these features has been the ease of installation of a snow plow. While the first snow plows were bolted onto supports which were typically welded onto the frame of a truck at the front end thereof, such an installation mechanism made the installation both difficult and time consuming. Recent years have seen the inclusion of various mechanisms for mounting a snow plow on a truck which have improved the snow plow installation process. Most of these hitch mounting mechanisms require a relatively precise degree of accuracy as the truck-mounted hardware is moved to approach the snow plow-mounted hardware.
One such hitch mounting mechanism is shown in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/192,336, filed on Jul. 10, 2002, entitled “Snow Plow Quick Connect/Disconnect Hitch Mechanism and Method,” which patent application is assigned to the assignee of the present patent application. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/192,336 is hereby incorporated herein by reference. It teaches an improved hitch mounting mechanism and method of operating the same, which allows the snow plow to be both connected to and disconnected from a truck easily and simply, without requiring tools. The process of connecting or disconnecting the snow plow to or from the truck with the hitch mounting mechanism of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/192,336 is so simple and easy to use that it can be done by a single person without requiring assistance.
Thus, the primary difficulty that remains in the attachment of a snow plow to a truck is properly aligning the truck as it is driven to approach the snow plow. Since snow plows for light and medium duty trucks weigh hundreds of pounds and are somewhat unwieldy, the process can be quite time consuming and awkward, particularly when it is being done during the winter when the weather is cold. The other factor that exacerbates the problem is when a single person is trying to attach the plow onto the truck, since when driving the truck into position adjacent the snow plow the driver of the truck is unable to see the snow plow over the hood of the truck.
Only by climbing out of the cab or passenger compartment of the truck and walking to the front of the truck can the driver see how close to (or how far from) being properly aligned the mating hitch mounting mechanism components on the truck and the snow plow are. The snow plow installation procedure thus often becomes a repetitive process in which it takes several attempts to properly align the truck with the snow plow before proper alignment is achieved. This can be a time consuming and frustrating experience for even the most experienced of snow plow owners.
It is accordingly the primary objective of the present invention that it guide the driver of a truck in the approach to a snow plow to bring the hitch mounting mechanism components on the truck into alignment with the mating hitch mounting mechanism components on the snow plow. It is a further objective of the present invention that it provide a hitch alignment system which is operable by a single person, namely the driver of the truck. It is a related objective of the present invention that the driver of a truck using the hitch alignment system never need leave the cab of the truck to guide the truck from a distance well away from the snow plow as it approaches and moves into alignment and engagement with the snow plow.
It is a further objective of the present invention that the hitch alignment system be relatively easy to install. It is a related objective of the present invention that the hitch alignment system be both vehicle independent and snow plow independent, so that it will be susceptible to installation on any vehicle and to any type of mounting arrangement for any snow plow or other implement. It is yet another objective of the present invention that the hitch alignment system be simple to operate and use, requiring either minimal or no training to operate.
The hitch alignment system of the present invention must also be of construction which is both durable and long lasting, and it should also require little or no maintenance to be provided by the user throughout its operating lifetime. In order to enhance the market appeal of the hitch alignment system of the present invention, it should also be of relatively inexpensive construction to thereby afford it the broadest possible market. Finally, it is also an objective that all of the aforesaid advantages and objectives of the hitch alignment system of the present invention be achieved without incurring any substantial relative disadvantage.